Video Transcript: Lesson 6

In the breaking of addiction, or addiction cycle course, we've been talking about, what is addiction, the theology of addiction, looking at all kinds of scriptures that  point to the issue of human nature, as well as looking at other effects of  addiction, today we're going to talk about is the social effects of addiction. Now  we've looked at how with addiction, we have a cycle, and the cycle of addiction  is baffling, and we've addressed that. It's baffling because well, as we say in  recovery, I may have mentioned this in previous videos, how, with step one, we  surrender easy to do we think, and also step two in recovery, which where we  say, we acknowledge that there's a power higher than ourselves that can restore me to sanity. Well, okay, I've acknowledged that. Then there is the yeah, there's  that prayer in step three. Oh god, I give you all that I have all that I am, all my  addictions and compulsive behaviors, because in step one, I surrendered. I  admit I'm I'm powerless, over my addictions and compulsive behaviors. Step I  did. Step two, God and Now step three, I give everything into your care. Now  let's drink. Let's drink again, let's use the crack again. Let's do it again. And  we're right back to step one. So we talked about the cycle, and again, we looked at Israel's example in the book of Judges, how they went through their cycle of  addiction to do what was right in their own eyes, and that's the big problem in  general, as we look at addiction, because addiction is a spiritual problem. Yes,  we look at the disease model. We looked at the models of addiction as well. We  look at the behavior model, and other types of models related to those two of the disease and the behavior. And now what we're going to do is we're going to get  into the social effects. We have to look at the psychological effects, which will be in the next video. Then we're going to deep, dig deeper into the family dynamics  and also the economics of addiction, and also the other effects of addiction and  come full circle looking at recovery and strategies to helping people break the  cycle of addiction by God's grace, one day at a time, one moment at a time, for  the rest of their lives into eternity. That begins with God today social effects,  social effects of addiction. And we look at dependency, we look at norms, look at change, because when we look at dependency, oh, addiction is not only an  issue having to do with a person becoming dependent on substances and  abusing the substances, but it's also a dependency where we become co  dependent. We try to fix the addict. The society becomes the enabler of the  addict, where they give it the 50th chance to call into work late, or the 10th  chance to say, I'm sorry, when there really is no need, there's dependency as a  system, if you look at it closely, if you peel back the layers of each society that is racked with addictive behavior, and As we've also cited before, but the opioid  addiction as we look at our American society, and maybe in your society, in the  country that you live in and and if you're watching in Norway, or you're watching  in South Africa, or you're watching in somewhere in the world, you Look around  you and you see how addiction infiltrates permeates through every aspect of  society, if you peel back the layers of your society. And again, our context is 

American society. And as you know, we're very market driven here with our free  market system and so on for a second, and we will look at that in the economics in a later video, but we look at the whole permeation of addiction in our  American society, the commercials that say, drink this beer. It's okay. Live it up,  and you've heard those messages before, but now even more so today, we we  become more desensitized. We have a dependency on that addiction to the Bud Light beer or the corona or to other drugs and medicines that can cure all, and  therefore what they don't tell you in the commercial is how deep, how it can  become a problem where the body then needs to depend on it, because it  begins to tolerate it, and and and going down that path dependency, the norms  change. What was frowned upon 30 years ago is now normal today. And yet  here in America, it's very interesting, smoking was a normal thing back in the in  the early 20th century, into the mid 20th century, and then starting the late 20th  century, it began to be frowned upon, because of all the reports of how smoking  is bad for you. Now, in 2019 smoking is definitely stigmatized. However, it's still  out there and still an issue. Well anyway, society changes. Things, shift, adapt,  and as we look at addiction, it's interesting how people's behavior then  influences how a society behaves and also tolerates and does not tolerate  stigmatizes and destigmatizes, raises up a value and devalues a value. And with addiction across the board, though, we look at these issues, first of all the  emotional issue. There's emotional burden when it comes to the addict and his  or her behavior, anger as it look at families, also at employers and people who  live in our community. They look at the addict with anger because of the life that  is taken away or the things are stolen because of the addict. They need that  next fix, and they'll do whatever it takes, even steal money to get what they  need. Frustration. She's late again. Well, that's the third time we lost another  one here at the office. That's an interview again. Time, money, production at the  at the workplace, lost anxiety. Boy looks like it looks like Tom is gonna, yeah,  he's not. He's on. He's on something. What are we gonna do? Anxiety or or the  boss? Boy, he had another hangover. He's not with it this morning. Yeah, looks  like he's not. Boy, where did the time go? It's 11:30 should have been here at  9:30 anxiety, fear, fear of what the addict is going to do in his or her state of  using or not or not using, and they are maybe anxious or they're they have other mood swings because they're not on their drug at the moment. They're not  medicating and they are showing it. Or you have to walk on eggshells around  the person, fear, the emotional burden in society. In addition the economic  burden when it comes to the addict, as I said, They'll do anything, whatever it  takes, to get what they want, when they want it, they'll blow their budget. There's a lack of a budget there. There's also a lot loss of the job, which we just  nuanced, and also public assistance. Many who I work with through community  recovery here in Grand Rapids, Michigan are on the street. They get their check  on the first of the month, and yesterday was other first of the month, and what 

they'll often do is take that check, take a good look at it, begin to think about  what they could do. And the first thing that many of them do, who live on the  streets because of their addiction to alcohol and the like, is get a hotel room or  motel room. Why? Because, if the false sense of security of having a house,  having television, having what they want, what they want, when they want, it a  false sense of security where they can feel like they're actually living when on  the street, they don't feel like they're living they feel like they're total chaos.  They're trying to get order. So when it comes to the economic there is a lack of  budget, and also a lack of a sense of budgeting, and they depend on the  government system, which is a burden, because, again, who pays into the  system, those who are working, those who are budgeting, those who pay their  taxes. And yes, there should be some safety net, but not one wide enough  where anybody can hop on. And yet the government, as I said earlier, has  become an enabler. Society has become a place of enablement, and also  saying, if you are so strung out on your addiction, we'll help you to live. Help you to survive. But the question comes again, where is the church? Why is always  the government? How can we help our brothers and sisters who are struggling  through addiction and also inappropriate behaviors and life patterns that get  them in trouble every single time the economics is not only monetary, but the  economics is also in relationships, because relationships, we look at distress.  Distress is always there. It's chaos all the time, and we've talked about this, and  therefore conflict, conflict amongst those in the family, dissatisfaction, divorce,  they don't know what to do with the brother, they don't know what to do with the  son. The mom and dad are hooked on whatever they're hooked on. So  substance abuse, they become become distant. They become disconnected and from there, there's family instability, violence, abuse, breaking up the family.  Well, we can't handle her anymore. He has got to go. That's a reality, and I  would trust that in your families, and maybe you've experienced this where it's  that brother or that son or that sister or daughter, they get hooked on something  and become disconnected from you. They lie to you. And not only do they lie to  you as a family, but they begin to lie to other people. Find themselves in in  places where they ought not, and everybody begins to pay for it, again, not only  monetary, but also emotionally and also relationally, this whole thing of family  instability and the social effects reminds me of a story of Jimmy. Jimmy. I worked with Jimmy for probably over 17 years, maybe more like 18 years now. Is it part  of our recovery ministry at community recovery and this young man now 66  years old, of course, back 17, 18, years ago, was a lot younger. He talks about  his days when he was younger, drug running, drug abuse, of course, and  pimping out ladies to be prostitutes with other men, guns, violence,  inappropriate behaviors, of course, that go along within sexual behaviors.  They're risky, and he's now paying for today. He's still alive, but his past still  catches up with him. Well, where does this all happen? How does this all come 

to be? Well, his family of origin, Jimmy's family of origin was, was very  dysfunctional. His family of origin, of course, was hooked on everything because of their despair. Being a black family, they they they had dignity, they had also a  lot going for them, but they lost the dignity, they lost the opportunities, because  they got mixed up in their addictions. That was one. Day in 1967 when Jimmy  decided to steal a bus. The story goes that it was on a school day and the bus  driver had stepped out of the bus and Jimmy saw an opportunity for a thrill ride,  and he got on that bus, shut the door, and mind you, it was a busload of kids in  there already, and he took off with the bus down the freeway. The kids were  screaming. Everybody was up in arms, and finally, the police caught up with him, pulled him over, and Jimmy started a record, and we laugh about it today. In  fact, he's even called bus driver out of jest, but Jimmy, he served two prison  terms. Jimmy had, of course, could not see how relationships are about love  and respect and not power and control as we look at family instability, violence,  abuse, I remember also walking into his sister's home, mother to his niece, who  I know pretty well, we'll call her Kathy. And years ago, I did a house call, walked  into the into the house, everything was a mess, and Kathy's mom was still in bed or laying on the couch. I don't remember now as years ago, and she was pretty  much out of it, turning over and seeing who I was, and hey, Pastor, how are  you? And I said, How are you? And trying to tend to the family, trying to support  as best I could. It also reminded me, too of the story of Jim and Jane, Jim, he  was on crack from before. Jane, she was that prostitute. And of course, they  went through recovery. They got married. Finally, at community recovery on our  Friday night, recovery night, and they were doing well. They got into a house,  and one day, I got a phone call, and Jimmy had been working at this time, and  he was working construction. He's getting $40 an hour, and it was in his hand.  He was ready to provide for the family, and he was feeling good about it, but  money was in his hand, and he began to go out again, buying the crack,  smoking the crack, working the next day, functional. Jane, one evening, she  thought, well, he can do that, huh? Wonder what I could do. Walked out the  door, started walk, went to the main drag, the main street right near their  neighborhood, not a good neighborhood, mind you, but on that main drag, there  were police back and forth. She knew that, but she thought, maybe I can get  away with what I used to do as a prostitute. And sure enough, a car pulls up to  the curb. Window rolls down, and they say, hi, you wanna get in? And she say,  hi, sure. And they slap the cuffs on her because she accepted an invitation for  prostituting undercover cops brought her into jail, best place for her to be at the  moment. The problem was, is that Jim and Jane, they had their little baby.  Interestingly enough, that little baby's name is Faith. And as I got the call from  Jim, who was struggling, you got to come over, okay? And I drove over. It was a  Friday. We had a recovery night coming at the church, and I came to the door.  As I walked in, I said. Jim, what's going on? There was Faith in the car seat he 

was writing that note I, Jimmy, give permission and give to Pastor Mark, Faith  under his care. Signed, Jimmy, here take her. He said, Okay, Jimmy and I took  the little baby and put her in my car and drove her to the church building, not  knowing what to do. And he let go. He cut it off. Praise the Lord. Today, God  brought together. And by the way, at that moment I got to the church building,  the Lord eventually provided the family back that very night to take care of Faith  and to foster care her for the next year and a half or so. By that time too, as  Jimmy went through his program, Jane through her program, getting out of jail,  getting back at her feet, getting help and support from the community. And also  God's people to begin with. God brought them back together. God brought them  back together with each other, with faith. Today, they're still together, attending  church every Sunday, working through their issues, and things are still coming  along. The society had to come around them. Society had to say, yes, you can if there are many who won't go to the society, they won't go and get the help, they  think the church is not there. And how can the church be there? Of course,  Matthew 25 Jesus said, I was hungry, you fed me. I was thirsty. You gave me  some drink. I was naked. You clothed me. I was in prison. You visited me and  the righteous said, Oh, Lord, Lord, we don't remember, but okay, you did to me.  He's done the least of these my brothers and sisters of mine, Jesus says the  society matters, and what addiction does to society brings out the violence,  brings out the abuse, the disconnection, the breaking of the family. The family is  exactly what the devil wants to destroy, to destroy God's creation. Because we  also look at fetal alcohol syndrome. We also look at crack babies as they're  called the crack babies. And the fetal alcohol syndrome, of course, refers to  children born who are in utero and the mother is using and abusing substances,  alcohol, narcotics and so forth. And then children are born with mental  disabilities, developmental and cognitive delays, and unfortunately, there's a  loss of livelihood. Yes, they eventually can't go to school and also work. Maybe  they can work, but because of the disability, because of the mental delay,  because of all the problems, school may be a dream, work not a reality.  Dependency on the society is the reality in an unhealthy way, and also family  cohesion. There is none eventually, mom, dad, they show less sensitivity. They  also are emotionally detached. Well, I care about my child. They seem that I  love them, but I I don't know what to do. I know how to parent and and I just got  to give them up. And then they go into, least in our system, the foster system,  and pass out from one house to another house to another house, as things will  shift change cases of abuse in those foster homes, and then they have to be  placed again. Neglect, neglect. The societal effects on a broader scope,  because of the use and abuse of substances, because of the addictive  behaviors, because of the inappropriate actions and the consequences of those  actions, which often involve jails institutions or death, the effect societally, of  course, suicide, homelessness, well, we'll get the hotel room, but then we run 

out of money, and we're back on the street again, unemployment, government  enablement, and from there, many other problems, many other issues. See with  society. We find ourselves in a quandary, what do we do? And perhaps, I'm sure, we also work in Kenya, Africa as community recovery, for example, and we're  working with Rift Valley hope, a great church pastor, Isaac and his wife, Esther  and and also his community recovery team in Kenya, and also their other  programs for boys and girls and and also their parents who have HIV because  of prostitution and also drug addiction. And they're asking the same question.  What do we do? How do we best help? Not fix because we can't, God can fix.  And we discussed this in this course, we as people, can't fix the spiritual  problem. God fixes the spiritual problem as you pour into the material for this  modular for this, this topic, you'll then see again, discover more as you read.  Also take the quiz as it reinforces what you read, and test what you read to see  how the society needs to be there. But it can't fix the problem. Only God can,  and God does it through people, and he is calling the church to step in. But we  need to know how. Hence this course, of course, and so we look at, then other  effects. Because addiction is linked to decision making functions, looking at the  other dynamics of the society, the decisions that are done individually and also  corporately, as it applies to government, as applies to policy, as it applies to how we live, as applies to where we live. There's something that we have here in  America called not in my backyard or NIMBY for short, and more and more as a  society, or the society here in America are saying, Man, there are a lot of these  Jimmys, a lot of these Kathys, who, who we just don't want to deal with, and we  don't want them in our backyard. But I said before in this course, no mess, no  ministry. We have to be willing to shovel the manure. We have to willing to get in there, get our hands dirty as God's people. Are we willing? Will we? Let's dig a  little deeper. Decision Making. We always have choices. But how do we make  the choice we must face the fact that we are dealing with people whose brains  may have been permanently changed by drug use, and the study that has been  done by Kenneth Osborne from West Virginia, and also with these, these other  organizations available to to address the whole cycle of addiction, and looking at the societal effects, he first goes to the fact that the brain has a problem. The  brain begins to change. As I said earlier, there's change involved. As people  begin to abuse a substance or abuse a behavior, the brain will shift. The brain  will tolerate. The brain will say, Oh, that's not bad, boo. I like that. Or the  pleasure system is put in overload. Looked at that earlier in this course, and  then how it affects decision making. The brains have permanently changed.  There's a simple brain structure again, movement up on the top, sensations are. Right next to it, underneath that judgment, vision on the back, memory right in  the middle, the reward right in the middle as well. And of course, coordination,  right there by the spinal cord, where it attaches to the brain, stages so there's a  delusional system. We have, self care and others care and from self to others. 

And the problem is, is that as a person who gets deep into their addiction, you  have the issue of how the self becomes dependent on others. Over here, we  say, okay, self care. There's a balance, an interdependence here becomes a  total dependence, or a co dependence, depending on how you frame this visual, the self cannot take care of self. The Self is damaged, much like when you  break your arm, you can't use it, and with the stages of addiction, lifestyles  change, behavioral dependency, promises, oh, I'll quit tomorrow. There's a book  of that by that, that title, I'll quit tomorrow. Also addictive rituals, external  responses to the addict, internal struggle, completion of delusional system. So,  behavioral dependency, we talked about that, the promises, of course, I'll quit  tomorrow. I did the rituals. I've got money. There's there, you know, and I'm that  money, ooh, I can now go to the to the liquor store. Now I can go to the dope  house. Now I can go to wherever to feed my need that I think I've got, the brain  tells me that I have. And then from there, external responses to the addict  negativity. Stop doing that. Just quit. But then the addict begins to resent that  response. Of course, they're angry at people in the family of origin anyway, and  it turns into a snowball. It begins to build. And there's the internal struggle. I want to quit, but I don't, and then, well, must be this is who I am now. Spiritual  emptiness begins. It's all spiritual. The need for the God the Bible becomes even more desperate. There's a life breakdown, acting out breaks down. Addictive  logic breaks down. Coping becomes impossible. They can't cope again. It's  looked at that those circles about self care not there, interacting breaks down.  Isolation becomes more of the more the norm there. They don't want to be with  people. Those people, their addiction, antisocial personality traits set in. I can't  be with people because I can't trust them. I can't understand how to be with  people because my brain says I need to do this and do that. Consequences are  more severe, if I go out, I might be put in jail as fear, anxiety and also physical  breakdown. The mind begins to go, functions begin to go as well. Then you have a culture of addiction, an informal social network in which group norms prescribe patterns of perceiving, thinking, feeling and behaving, promote illicit behavior  and excessive drug use. This culture encompasses a diverse collection of  subcultures organized geographically, ethnically, socioeconomically and through each subculture's drugs of choice. So we look at different parts of society that  are tagged with certain substances and behaviors, ethnic realities surrounding  addiction in the US, there's been historical race. A signation or blame regarding  illicit drug use and resulting problems from use. 1895 into the 1900s blacks and  cocaine. 1875 the Chinese opium crusade. 1920 the Mexican marijuana  problem. The war on drugs has resulted in the disproportionate incarceration of  young, poor, black and Hispanic underclass Caucasians, blacks, African  Americans and Hispanics do not differ greatly in their illicit drug use or drinking.  Addiction is no respecter of persons, and the poor and ethnic minority groups  are often disproportionately affected, experiencing higher incidence of drug 

induced crimes and violence. It's reinforced and under the War on Drugs back  the 1980s especially, the correctional system has become our principal public  agency in America for providing disadvantaged young men and women with  housing, nutrition, medical care and education and escape from the ravages of  drug related street crime. In other words, the dependency also becomes, or sets in, rather of the addict upon the jail. The jail provides three hot meals and a  place to stay, and the person who comes out of prison or jail, they get used to  the nice, yes, it's not the right place to be, but that's what they get used to again. The brain begins to tolerate it. Behaviorally, they become programmed. You  know, you always eat at these times, you sleep at these times. And this is my life now. And they are released from prison. They've done their time, and now  they're back into society, where everything has changed out here on the outside, as opposed to as as opposed to life on the inside, because life on the inside  stays the same, whereas those life on the outside always changes. And so you  have this dissonance between inside and outside of the jail, for example. And as a result, society says drugs are bad. This is this is also not acceptable. We will  criminalize drug use. We'll criminalize this. Now, as of late, marijuana use here  in Michigan and also other states, the United States, from 20, really 2017, 18,  19, more legalization has happened since then, since the war on drugs. Why?  Because, first of all, it's become the norm. Has become, has accepted marijuana use as normal, whereas 30 years ago, war on Drugs, marijuana use, bad, bad.  We don't do it here in our context, in the United States in 2019 today, marijuana  use, let's make it more legal. Now, underneath that, we have to look at the  realities of incarceration. Incarceration has gone through the roof. We're the  most incarcerated country in the world. And all truly began in the late 1970s into  the 1980s when the war on drugs was put into force, criminalizing all drug use,  all things related to drug use, possession and, of course, passing drugs to  others and so on, and all these other laws the society says we are going to put  people in jail, lock them up, throw away the key. Since then is not proven to be  helpful, is proven to be more detrimental, because society cannot survive by  having more people on the inside than on the outside. That's one aspect. To  look at it as we look at the economic, as we look at the societal, to look at the  broken family as like the broken society. Therefore and society needs to recover, we need to have restoration, because we look at the genetics, personality  coping, the social conditioning, reinforcement, compulsive, excessive behaviors, biopsychosocial and and there have been their form in the culture of addiction.  Tribal networks, celebrated drug tribes drugs that have been blessed for social  consumption or alcohol, caffeine, much like the coffee you drimk today that's  part of the norm. Tolerated drug tribes, nicotine, smoking, instrumental drug  tribes, psychoactive, active drug citizens can legally obtain and abuse  prescription meds, hence our opioid problem and prohibited drug tribes, drugs  defined as having highly limited or no utilitarian use, whose presence is seen as 

potentially disruptive, cocaine, PCP, heroin and LSD, hence, legalization, illegal.  What is criminal, what is not criminal. What is tolerated and celebrated versus  what is just was also now prohibited, and the norms keep changing. So from  there, we move forward. Society needs the Savior, Jesus, and Jesus uses the  church. God has made the church the hope of the world. It's been said before, a  challenge to you today, as you think through the society that you live in, how  addiction has affected it, and how you as a church leader can be the difference  maker, to be the change agent and to lead God's people to organize and also  become the interdependent group, to give the hand up to the addict and bring  change as the Holy Spirit does it as God fixes it, but uses you to make it  happen. Do it today.